Holly Humberstone’s Acoustic Show In Kingston Ahead Of ‘Cruel World’
Holly Humberstone yesterday performed an acoustic show live at Circuit, Kingston. Image credit: TOPNOTE
‘I feel like the luckiest witch in the world.’
Until last year, Holly Humberstone had been running on an eternal green light. ‘I hadn’t really had the chance since my music career started to just kind of… be, and exist as a human outside of that’, she reflected on stage.
Her debut EP was nominated for an Ivor Novello, swiftly followed by the BRIT Rising Star Award in 2022. After supporting Olivia Rodrigo and Girl in Red across North America, and even opening for a night on Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ Tour at Wembley Stadium, the 26-year-old has found herself in good company as her music has reached a global audience, whilst carving out her own distinct space in alternative pop.
Out next week, Humberstone’s dark-fairytale-inspired second album, ‘Cruel World’, has spilled over into fashion, art, and the concept of femininity, both reclaimed and reinvented. Last night, these ever-expanding influences were condensed to their essence. Performing new tracks from the record as well as her past personal favourites, Banquet Records hosted Holly in Circuit for an acoustic set last night.
This album launch show had no spectacle, no band, and very little ‘going on’. With her microphone and storytelling skills, Holly Humberstone brought Kingston into a quiet, private garden within her meticulously imagined ‘Cruel World’, offering a gentle evening of incisive personal folklore sung by one of Britain’s most enchanting female voices.
Continue reading our review of the night below.
Holly Humberstone releases ‘Cruel World’ on 10th April. Image credit: TOPNOTE
Sharing the stage with Seth Tackaberry alone, there’s only a keyboard, a few guitar changes, and the occasional harmony alongside Humberstone’s voice. It’s all that’s needed, allowing her silken tones to blanket the room, rolling on a spectrum between a whisper and a grainy belt. ‘Falling Asleep At The Wheel’ is performed with such intensity, even six years since the song’s release, while fans in the front row hang on every word. In ‘Kissing In Swimming Pools’ and ‘White Noise’, her vocals are just beautiful – the latter she calls a countryfied-pop song she’s excited for the room to hear on the record, and remarks she had the most fun making, despite the acoustic version that strips its mournful lyrics bare.
There’s nowhere to hide, and Humberstone looks completely comfortable in the singular spotlight, sharing extended life updates between songs. ‘We finally moved out of the haunted house… which is really sad, but at least I can stop banging on about it’, she says in reference to her childhood home, and EP aesthetic for ‘Can You Afford To Lose Me?’ Sharing the creative process behind her next release, she reveals that the catharsis that came from clearing through ‘everything I’ve ever owned’, enabled her to rediscover forgotten passions and treasured belongings, from ballet shoes to fairytale books, that eventually shaped the visuals for ‘Cruel World’.
Dressed in corded black bloomer shorts, pure white tights and knee-high boots, her look is avant-garde troubadour chic. The gothic Victorian styling continues into the barren woodland set and graveyard cross decorating the stage.
“This album launch show had no spectacle, no band, and very little ‘going on’. With her microphone and storytelling skills, Holly Humberstone brought Kingston into a quiet, private garden within her meticulously imagined ‘Cruel World’, offering a gentle evening of incisive personal folklore sung by one of Britain’s most enchanting female voices.”
The singer takes her time to elaborate on the inspirations behind new songs and why she wrote them, or the impact of older ones, and how their meaning may have changed over the six years she’s been releasing music. The result is that it feels you’re in conversation with Holly, as though she’s eager for you to get to know her.
One particularly interesting introduction precedes ‘Beauty Pageant’ from the upcoming album. ‘This is a song about my experience of being a woman in the world, and the music industry… We have to shout a lot louder, we have to show up pretty, and that’s seen as currency.’ She talks about her ‘core team of girlies’ and growing up with the feeling of being trapped in a beauty pageant, with only room for one to win. ‘But that’s bullshit’ she smiles, before a music box piano ripples through the room in what she describes one of her most embarrassing, vulnerable songs about pining for success and adoration; ‘I won’t stop until you love me.’
There was a sweet irony watching her sing these lyrics — that every woman can relate to — to a room full of people who’d given their devoted attention from the start of the set. The age and gender demographic was mixed, but most touching were the teenage girls who looked on in awe and adoration. ‘She’s very likeable’ someone muttered nearby.
“One particularly interesting introduction precedes ‘Beauty Pageant’ from the upcoming album. ‘This is a song about my experience of being a woman in the world, and the music industry… We have to shout a lot louder, we have to show up pretty, and that’s seen as currency.’ She talks about her ‘core team of girlies’ and growing up with the feeling of being trapped in a beauty pageant, with only room for one to win. ‘But that’s bullshit’ she smiles.”
‘It’s a love song about loving so hard that it kind of scares you’ Humberstone shared, before the crowd sing to the album’s chapter-opening single, ‘Die Happy’, placed fourth on our countdown of 2025’s best songs. But it’s the unreleased ‘Lucy’ that brings the most memorable moment. Humberstone promises string arrangements in the studio version, before delivering an angelic acoustic performance. With goosebump-inducing high notes that stun the room to silence, this one will be hard to top.
Before Humberstone hits festival stages as big as Coachella this summer, last night invited the audience to learn more about the album and the artist who made it, one who will no doubt continue to reach ever-larger audiences. ‘Cruel World’ is released on 10th April via Polydor Records.
Holly Humberstone live in Kingston, hosted by Banquet Records. Image credit: TOPNOTE